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Master Gardener classes to begin in February; U of I Extension to offer training
JUDY HODGE PHOTO Belvidere Republican
The Boone County Master Gardener training program has a volunteer-based component that allows Master Gardeners to help educate the community. Here, Boone County Master Gardeners work with the Juntos 4-H Club in the Buchanan Street Community Garden.
If you enjoy gardening and have a desire to share your knowledge others, you might consider becoming a Certified Master Gardener.
The University of Illinois Boone County Extension is offering a new session of classes starting in February 2024 and continuing through May.
According to Judy Hodge, Extension program coordinator, “From farms and small-town to suburbs and the inner city, more than 2,600 volunteers statewide put their mission of ‘helping others learn to grow’ into practice by providing gardening education and outreach to their communities.”
This volunteer-based program, she highlighted, “is aimed at exposing participants to in-depth horticulture content,” adding that topics covered include botany, soils and fertilizers, entomology, lawns, fruits, vegetables and more.
The classes are taught by horticulture educators who are part of the U of I Extension, Hodge said, and who have degrees/backgrounds in horticulture-related fields.
Additionally, according to the coordinator, the course uses a statewide manual consisting of research-based information.
She emphasized that “They [participants] don’t have to have any background in gardening, but an interest in it.”
The Master Gardener training, she added, “helps make them more aware and knowledgeable about [horticulture].”
Hodge said that once participants complete the training (they are considered “trainees” while attending classes), they then become interns, and are required to put in 40 volunteer hours, which can be spread out for up to two years.
After the internship is completed, individuals become a Certified Master Gardener, Hodge outlined, adding that Master Gardeners are required to volunteer at least 20 hours a year, plus undertake at least 10 hours of continuing education annually.
That continuing education can be in the form of workshops, seminars, classes, etc., that are taught by a reputable source, as long as it is a topic that the Master Gardener “can turn around and use to educate the community,” Hodge noted.
She indicated that volunteer opportunities are numerous in the community, such as “speaking at garden clubs, civic groups or schools; answering calls or emails at garden help desks; establishing demonstration gardens that serve as educational tools; and educating citizens on how to establish community gardens.”
The Boone Extension has a speaker’s bureau, Hodge said, and another key program is the Master Gardener Help Desk, which operates during the spring through fall months, Monday through Thursday from 1 to 4 p.m.
During the winter months, if someone calls for help, Hodge said, the inquiry will be passed along to a Master Gardener, who will then come to the office and “they will do research on whatever the issue is.”
She emphasized that one of the benefits of being a Master Gardener volunteer is that the individual has “the opportunity to do research … an education in that respect for the volunteers.”
“As you’re learning, you’re still learning as you go,” she added.
The bottom line is that for anyone wanting to become a Master Gardener, Hodge said, they need to “have the desire to be out in the community and sharing that knowledge … be connected to the community in a different way.”
The Master Gardener program is a way to “get people out in the community, helping others learn to grow,” Hodge summed up.
The classes, on Thursdays from Feb. 29 through May 30, will be held from 5-8:30 p.m. at the Boone County Extension Meeting Room, 205 Cadillac Court, Suite 5, in Belvidere. The cost is $175.
The initial process includes filling out an application, and undergoing an interview and background screening. Participants do not have to live in Boone County to attend, and teachers can earn continuing education credits.
If you are interested in applying for the program, or need a reasonable accommodation, contact Hodge at 815-544-3710 or email [email protected]. Or, visit go.illinois.edu/BooneMGtraining.
The application deadline is Feb. 8.
You can also inquire about an online training program that will run from Jan. 29, 2024, to April 29. The deadline for registration is Jan. 10, 2024.
